Safeguarding Statement

Safeguarding and E-Safety

St Anne Line Catholic Infant School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We are fully committed to ensuring that consistent effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support families, children and staff at school. All concerns are passed through the members of staff who are trained as "Designated Child Protection Officers" in school in compliance with the "sharing of information" guidance.

The Child Protection Designated Officer is Angela Russell, Head Teacher. She is supported by two Deputy Designated Officers and a team of other staff who have also been trained accordingly. All staff have been made aware that they each have a responsibility to report any safeguarding concerns.

If you have any serious concerns about your child or any other pupil at St Anne Line Infant School, please do not hesitate to contact the Child Protection Designated Teacher who knows who to contact for the best advice and help and is experienced in using the appropriate degree of confidentiality.

For the best interests of all our children we use the following safeguarding measures:

Cause for Concern

Teachers are asked to report any causes for concern to the School Safeguarding Team often verbally first, but followed up in writing – following school policy and protocol. All staff receive child protection training and any concerns will be shared with parents as early as possible. Concerns may range from children being visibly upset to persistent lateness to children ‘disclosing’ concerns.

Family Support

All families are asked to make us aware of any injuries that a child may sustain when out of school. A verbal or written statement will be kept on file to ensure that the injuries are monitored.

Attendance

All lateness and absences are recorded by the Attendance Co-ordinator, Mrs Amber. Reasons will be sought for all absence or lateness. Attendance is monitored through the school information management system, and referrals to the Safeguarding Team can be made. Parents will always be informed of concerns around attendance at the earliest point. If attendance concerns continue the school will refer to the Education Welfare Officer. Only in exceptional circumstances will authority be given for a child to be absent in term time.

E-Safety

We support our pupils’ use of the internet and seek to underpin their knowledge of safe use and protection. We provide our pupils with an awareness of how to stay safe online both in the school environment and beyond. All of the games and DVDs used at school will be rated as U.

An e-safety log is maintained at school. We believe that out of school, children should adhere to the official UK certification given to games, DVDs etc., and it is the responsibility of the family to ensure that the content of DVD’s and other material is age-appropriate. We offer annual training for families in order to keep them up to date with any areas of concern and to help them manage any difficult situations.

Facebook/Social media sites (SMS)

Children under the age of 13 are not entitled to use Face Book. Children will not be using social media sites during school hours. We also ask parent/carers to respect the privacy and security of our school family by not naming the school, staff or other children, or sharing school related material on SMS.